Former council leader criticised following care company complaint

Dr Andrew Povey has been issued with an adverse findings notice against his private care company Help Unlimited

The former leader of Surrey County Council has been publicly reprimanded by a watchdog for his private care company’s treatment of a complaint.

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has issued its first adverse findings notice against Help Unlimited, the Cranleigh-based homecare provider.

The notice centres on a complaint made while it was run by Dr Andrew Povey’s Personnel Services Limited. Help Unlimited was subsequently sold to Novus Care in February.

In August 2011, a complaint was made by a relative of a woman in Devon who Help Unlimited provided with care in her home.

The complaint came soon after her death, with the resident claiming his mother received poor service.

The LGO ordered the company to apologise to the complainant, review its procedures and make a payment of £250.

None of these orders were followed.

The LGO has lashed out at Dr Povey’s organisation for failing to comply with its recommendations following the complaint, failing to issue a notice to the media and destroying records.

LGO’s Dr Jane Martin said: “This is the first time in three years that I have had to issue such a notice against a private care provider and shows just how seriously I take a provider’s failure to comply with its obligations to address complaints.”

Dr Povey, who resigned from the council in 2011 following clashes with his then deputy David Hodge, was defiant in the face of the Ombudsman’s statement.

He said: “In my view, the LGO is the most incompetent organisation I have ever seen across the whole public sector. I simply do not accept the findings.

“We were being asked to make a payment to a former customer who still owes more than £1,000 to my care workers. It is absolutely outrageous.

“The care records were kept for an appropriate time as per the regulations agreed by parliament. I didn’t hear from the LGO for months and so they were destroyed.

“The complaint was investigated, but this was a person grieving for the loss of his mother and I think he decided to take it out in a certain way.”

A Novus Care spokesman said: “Recently (in 2014) Novus Care has taken over contracts and employees of Help Unlimited and its trading name.

“However Novus has not taken on responsibility for prior conduct by the previous owners, which need to be referred to Personnel Services Limited and its directors.

“For the avoidance of doubt Personnel Services Limited and its directors have no ongoing involvement in the running of the business.

“We at Novus have a strong track record in terms of the standard of service we provide to our service users.

“In relation to the newly acquired business we are investing in systems, training and recruitment to ensure that we provide a service of which we can be proud.”

The Staines Informer, Woking Informer, Surrey Herald, Surrey Advertiser and Surrey Times are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print.

We reach an average of 264,182* unique users a month with dedicated coverage of Guildford, Woking, Esher, Staines and the whole of Surrey.

80% of our visitors**, who view an average of 997,435* page impressions every month, are in the desirable ABC1 socio-economic groups.

To book an advert with the our advertising team call 01483 508700 or visit the Trinity Mirror Southern website trinitymirrorsouthern.co.uk for more information.

We are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print.

She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.